Sainsbury's is to cut around 800 jobs as it looks to restructure its department management teams.

The job cuts will be largely department and deputy manager positions as part of a wider £500 million cost saving drive being implemented over the next three years.

These latest job cuts follow an announcement in January it would cut 500 jobs across its store support centres across all grades.

Sainsbury's, like other big supermarket chains, is battling to maintain market share in competition with the discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Sainsbury's said today it will look to redeploy staff where possible in this latest round of cuts as it looks to invest resource to other shopfloor roles.

It also plans replace night shifts with early-morning and evening shifts in some stores in an effort to improve availability for customers.

The company said in a statement: “Reducing the number of department manager roles will give colleagues who serve customers on tills and restock the shelves the opportunity to extend their hours or take additional shifts.

“This means more customer-facing colleagues will be on hand to offer service, with the right leadership and structures in place.”

Sainsbury's, which employs around 161,000 staff across 1,200 stores, depots and support centres, said the proposal to change the way stores are restocked overnight will impact 100 sites, though no detail is provided on the location of those stores.

Roger Burnley, Sainsbury's retail and operations director, said: “We set out very clearly last year that we have to reflect the changes in when and how our customers are shopping.

“These proposals will help us maintain and improve customer service by having more colleagues on hand and well-replenished shelves at all times.

“The formal consultation starts today and, where possible, we hope colleagues will opt to move to other roles or stores.

“We expect the new structures to be in place later this year and, as a result, we will be set up to work more effectively together to better serve our customers.”